Dating while in college

Couples who settle down early risk feeling bored with the relationship and life -- and that's when one or both partners look elsewhere for emotional and physical exposure." If this scenario sounds familiar, then you, my friend, have a friend with benefits: a sexual relationship with no romantic commitment.So you hook up and enjoy each other's (naked) company and understand that the arrangement is 99.2% sexual and probably not monogamous.But the upside to getting your first heartbreak over with at age 19?When you're 25 and that paralegal from e Harmony stands you up on date number two because his "lizard came down with Zika," you know from experience that you can get through it.So down the road you're more likely to choose a relationship that fits all your personal and emotional needs.Yes, the completely independent lifestyle can be a nice comfort zone, but it can lead to skewed and immature expectations as an adult.

Here, relationship expert and author Ana Weber fleshes out how each of these five college relationships influences the kind of adult partner you'll become.Freshman-to-senior year is one giant learning curve, and everyone is naturally naive.The negative here is this: "You can experience passion, connection, and deep admiration in a college relationship," explains Weber, "but young people often confuse love with sex, and lust with intimacy." Settling too quickly can lead to an unfulfilling long-term relationship, or getting your heart broken."Post-college, a majority of students want to explore and get to know more people," says Weber."They want to graduate, see the world, and feel the sense of freedom attached to it.In college you're new to the process of "adulting" -- but you are adulting nonetheless.So you may feel ready and willing to exclusively commit to that nursing major you met by the ice luge at Phi Kappa Tau. But no matter your age, to be monogamous is to be vulnerable.But even when your romantic partner stays the same, change happens in and around you all the time.And when your relationship transcends from homecoming court to History 101 to parenthood and beyond, getting too comfortable isn't so good.They feel confident with who they are as single entities and a quest for love just isn't a priority.Hell, I would've had a 4.0 GPA if I hadn't devoted myself and my freshman year to my high school boyfriend, then unnamed members of the baseball team during the rest of my liberal arts career.